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Should I start using CSS Tables

I have been working with CSS for a couple of months, fairly confident that I can now start to change my sites from html tables format to CSS.

I have been reading about the new CSS capability of IE8 and am wondering whether its right to start using the CSS table properties which I have not been using simply because of the lack of support in IE.

Seriously, this is a question that very much depends on your user base (if you know that). You'll still need to do something for IE7 and earlier, it's just a question of how much divergance you want for those users.

I'd be willing to give it a go on a smaller project that is not of commercial importance, just to try it out, but I'd be wary if it is something that earns you a crust.

Personally, I wouldn't. Not on commercial sites anyway. Besides, Internet Explorer 8 hasn't even been released (as in RTM) yet, so things may change between now and then. Not only that, but there's also going to be the issue of IE 6 holdouts (people using decade old hardware who refuse to upgrade their OS), and the upcoming Windows Mobile 6, which will use IE 6 as its layout engine and be capable of rendering traditional Web pages on the screen.

If anything, I'd use it like I would the rest of CSS3 at this point in time. Progressive enhancement, and nothing more.

It really comes down to whether you insist on giving IE7- users exactly the same web page layout as everyone else. Following the suggestions from the book means that if you want the page to appear the same in IE6 and 7 you have to do the CSS for the page twice with the second copy working for all browsers anyway. The alternative is to produce a simpler layout for IE6 and 7 where the total amount of CSS to support all browser is perhaps less than the one setup that would be needed to give everyone the more complex layout. What point you decide it is appropriate to do that is up to you but most web sites still have over 50&#37; of their traffic coming from people using IE6 & 7.

Thanks Stephen, I am going to take what I have learned from the book and convert it on my local server, to see how it goes and in the hope IE8 falls together the way we hope when its out of beta, but it could be IE10 before 8 is out of beta